Trump pouring gasoline on climate change fire

Mark Painter served as a judge for 30 years. He is the author of six books and a member of the Enquirer’s Board of Contributors.

It’s always risky to predict historical judgments. Truman fares better than people at the time might have predicted. But most predicted right on Washington and Lincoln. And Buchanan.

The Trump presidency has only had seven months. We already know that it will be judged as one of the worst – we just don’t know how much worse it will get. Perhaps Trump will remove himself, or be removed by a brave Republican Congress. If that would happen soon, the damage could be mitigated. But a narcissistic personality will never admit inadequacy, and Paul Ryan has thus far shown the bravery of George McClellan.

History will judge many things. Some decisions are transitory – passing or not passing a budget on time will cause some disruptions and inconvenience, but little permanent damage.

Other effects of Trumpism are already ingrained in history: the Russians deciding our election; the grifter presidency, where the president and his family’s private businesses directly and illegally benefit from government spending; treating behavior in a president that would have formerly been disqualifying as normal; allowing an incompetent, illiterate, and insane being to run the country. History will judge us insane also.

But some decisions have even worse far-reaching consequences. By denying reality and letting global warming proceed apace, the present administration is on track to cause millions of deaths. By putting a science-denier, who might as well be in the pay of the Koch brothers as the taxpayers, in charge of dismantling the EPA, Trump is not just abandoning the fight against warming – he has switched sides.

Juana Matos resident Hector Rosa walks through a flooded area after the passing of Hurricane Maria, in Puerto Rico, Wednesday, September 27, 2017. Since the devastating impact of said hurricane, the supply line of goods in general was interrupted in the US territory, causing endless rows in gas stations and comercial centers. (AP Photo/Carlos Giusti)(Photo: Carlos Giusti, AP)

This administration has gone from the side of Republicans from Teddy Roosevelt to even Richard Nixon, who set up the EPA, and Ronald Reagan, who brought back Bill Ruckelshaus to fix it, to the side of the polluters, deniers, and destroyers. By withdrawing from the Paris Accord, Trump has sent the world a message that we are not just the biggest problem, but that we refuse to be part of any solution. These decisions will change history. And the future of the human race.

Envision the recent hurricanes when the oceans have risen even a few more inches, when weather patterns are much more disrupted. Weather-related natural disasters have more than tripled since the 1960s. Thus far, these disasters have directly resulted in over 60,000 deaths, mainly in developing countries. As Pope Francis wrote last year, global warming “is leading to ever more severe droughts, floods, fires and extreme weather events. Climate change is also contributing to the heart-rending refugee crisis. The world’s poor, though least responsible for climate change, are most vulnerable and already suffering its impact.”

But the weather effects will get much worse. DARA, a highly respected research organization, estimates that now about 350,000 people a year are dying from weather-related catastrophes and diseases. As the world heats, that number will increase exponentially.

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As reported by Bloomberg Business Week as early as 2012, climate change will cause the global economy to decline an estimated 3.2 percent a year by 2030. In some developing countries, it will be as much as 11 percent. One million people a year will die from just weather-related catastrophes by that same date.

A resident bails water from a flooded home in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria, in Catano, Puerto Rico, Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2017. A week since the passing of Maria many are still waiting for help from anyone from the federal or Puerto Rican government. But the scope of the devastation is so broad, and the relief effort so concentrated in San Juan, that many people from outside the capital say they have received little to no help. (AP Photo/Carlos Giusti)(Photo: Carlos Giusti, AP)

An additional effect – the warming will greatly encourage the mosquito population. Already, malaria, dengue fever, and West Nile virus are on the rise. In Greater Cincinnati, even Springdale is reporting West Nile-infected mosquitoes. (“Springdale: More West Nile mosquitoes found,” Enquirer, Sept 5.) What new diseases will spawn that we can’t even imagine now? The rising oceans will inundate coasts, islands, habitats of humans and wildlife. Absent huge floodwalls, Miami, Houston, New Orleans, will become memories, as will many other cities.

The destruction of our natural world will be the result of many years of abuse and neglect. Trump didn’t cause it any more than the rest of us did. But we could at least try to slow it, now that we know the cause and the devastating consequences. Instead, our president simply pretends there is no problem and promotes fossil fuel burning, thus dooming future generations. This group of government Neros isn't just fiddling during the fire – they are throwing gasoline on it.

History will judge Trump and his minions as responsible, by their reckless disregard of scientific fact, for human death on a massive scale. In terms of human death and suffering, history will compare Trump and his accomplices with Genghis, the Plague, Stalin, and Mao. But the body count might well be higher.